We caught up with one of this year's Emerging Leaders cohort, Melissa Mortensen, Administration Officer - Works at District Council of Grant to find out how she's finding the program so far.

What made you sign up for the Emerging Leaders Program?

I was encouraged to sign up for the Emerging Leaders Program by previous attendees and was curious to gain a greater level of understanding my own capabilities and how to work best with others who may have different styles of work preferences.

Although my current role at Council is fulfilling and gives me a sense of achievement at the end of each day, the ELP definitely piqued my interest with regard to investigating my capability and opportunities to develop as a leader in the workplace. I have found myself in leadership roles in the Community in a volunteer capacity and at home, however had not recognised that these skills had been developing until I began the course.

The most recent module held at the University of South Australia focused on Culture – what was your biggest take away from this session?

The Cultural module of the course was of great interest to me as I had often considered what constitutes a healthy workplace culture. I don’t think there is any single answer however encouraging individual employees to promote positive attitudes, support and communications in the workplace is invaluable. Developing skills for employees in the workplace to have the confidence to not engage in toxic cultural interactions is a powerful opportunity.

What are you most looking forward to as the program progresses?

I am looking forward to understanding how to integrate leadership opportunities into my workplace and developing better working relationships and appreciation of different colleague work styles. Comprehending further how to work alongside, support and encourage colleagues to develop their potentials and how to enhance team work with people bringing their varied skills to projects. I am also hopeful to use these new leadership skills to promote a positive culture and challenge myself to utilise informal leadership in the future. Anyone can be a leader!